Synthesis, physical, linear optical and nuclear radiation shielding characteristics of B2O3–BaO–PbO–SrO2 glasses

Abstract

In the present work, the physical, UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy, and nuclear shielding properties of novel borate glasses with nominal compositions 50B2O3–25BaO–25PbO–xSrO2: x\u2009=\u20090–30 mol% (BBPS0–BBPS30) have been investigated. The non-crystalline nature of the fabricated glasses was verified utilizing X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. Direct and indirect (EgapDirect\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$E_{{{\\text{gap}}}}^{{{\\text{Direct}}}}$$\\end{document}, EgapIndirect\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$E_{{{\\text{gap}}}}^{{{\\text{Indirect}}}}$$\\end{document}) optical energy gaps, average of refractive index (n), Urbach’s energy for (BBPS0–BBPS30) glasses were determined. MCNPX simulation code and WinXCOM program were employed to evaluate the mass attenuation coefficient, half value layer, tenth value layer, mean free path, and effective atomic number (μm, HVL, TVL, MFP, and Zeff) of gamma for the proposed glasses. Neutron shielding survey was examined by determining neutron removal cross section (NRCS, ΣR) of glasses. Results reveal that EgapDirect\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$E_{{{\\text{gap}}}}^{{{\\text{Direct}}}}$$\\end{document} varied from 3.15 to 2.38 eV, while EgapIndirect\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$E_{{{\\text{gap}}}}^{{{\\text{Indirect}}}}$$\\end{document} from 3.07 to 2.28 and n from 2.268 to 2.606 for BBPS0 and BBPS30 glasses, respectively. The HVL, MFP, and TVL values corresponding to the materials were in a descending order BBPS0\u2009>\u2009BBPS5\u2009>\u2009BBPS10\u2009>\u2009BBPS15\u2009>\u2009BBPS20\u2009>\u2009BBPS30. Therefore, the BBPS30 has superior shielding features against gamma-rays than the other material in the studied sample of glasses.